Mendez wanted him to get more experience before tangling with some
of the best heavyweights in the world. Cormier was drafted into the
field anyway, though, to replace Alistair
Overeem. He was also slotted against an opponent who had just
beaten Fedor
Emelianenko: Antonio
Silva.

“When he got the call that we had to take that fight, we didn’t
really want that fight,” Mendez said on the Sherdog
Radio Network’s “Rewind” show. “We wanted to give Daniel some
more fights, but hey, when you’re an alternate, you have to take
the fight. There’s no ifs or buts about that; you have to do
it.”

Mendez’s confidence in Cormier grew quickly. In his first sparring
session for the bout, Cormier got in the ring with UFC heavyweight
champion Cain
Velasquez.

“He did exactly what I needed to see,” Mendez said, “so I kept
hitting on him that I want to see that first round with Cain
continuously when you go through this fight. That was the game plan
going into it: being fast, being fast on the inside and moving to
the right, [and throwing] quick, fast combinations. We felt that
Silva was going to underestimate Daniel’s speed. I think that’s
what happened.”

The result was the breakthrough win in Cormier’s career so far, as
he knocked out Silva 3:56 into the first round. The upset also
advanced Cormier to the finals of the grand prix alongside Josh
Barnett.

“I was crossing my fingers [Barnett] wouldn’t win,” Mendez said
with a laugh. “He’s so damn dangerous. There’s really not much
weakness [with] him. We’re going to have to really, really do our
homework with this one. … If you want to be realistic, after
watching all the fighters, the number one guy that’s really the
best out of the group, the first original eight, is the guy in the
finals now. That’s Josh. If you’re going on how they approached
their fights and [how] they looked in their fights, you have to
give it to Josh.”

That’s quite a compliment considering the original eight tournament
entrants include Alistair
Overeem, Fedor
Emelianenko and Fabricio
Werdum. Mendez knows Cormier is in for another challenge with
Barnett, but his fighter is also dealing with a broken hand.
Cormier confirmed the injury Monday on his Twitter account and
added that he will be “on the shelf for a while.”

“It could play an impact for us because who knows when the bones
heal, what kind of time’s going to be required,” Mendez said when
asked how the injury could affect the grand prix final. “I don’t
know. It could be bad for us or it could be OK. It all depends on
the healing process.”

Regardless, for now Cormier is enjoying his big win.

“He got what he needed from that fight,” Mendez said. “I think for
him, he’s not focusing on Barnett right now. He’s going to be
focused on healing himself and getting ready to go. He’s been
through this before. Come fight time, he’ll be ready to go.”

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